World of Warcraft Chronicle Volume 3: New Info on Old Gods

World of Warcraft Chronicle Volume 3 released today! This third volume spans the Third War through Cataclysm, connecting many loose plot threads and revealing new lore. \r\rIt's available to purchase on Amazon for $27.59 as well as the First and Second volumes.\r\rIn this preview, we're highlighting some of the new information revealed about the Old Gods. Let us know in the comments what other types of lore details from Chronicles you'd like us to preview! Edit: we've previewed what factions get credit for which dungeons and raids.\r\r\r\rMotivations of the Old Gods\rEarly in the novel, we learn that the Old Gods created the Infinite Dragonflight as well as corrupted the Emerald Dream. While this information is not new, we also learned that the Old Gods were responsible for many smaller threats in classic WoW, such as quilboar, kobold, and centaurs. The Old Gods were responsible for creating a feeling of chaos everywhere as well as inciting conflict between the factions.\r\rThis is further emphasized when Cho\u2019gall notes: \r\rHe also needed to keep the Old God safe from the Alliance and the Horde. By defeating C\u2019Thun, the two factions had proved that they were unstoppable when they put aside their differences and united.\r\rCho\u2019gall would not allow them to do so again.\r\rWe can\u2019t help but think of the rapidly-escalating faction conflict developing in Battle for Azeroth and how the Alliance and Horde focused on destroying each other perfectly fits into the plans of the Old Gods.\r\rCho\u2019gall\rCho\u2019gall\u2019s lore has been changed a bit due to the removal of Med'an, the son of Garona, from the story. World of Warcraft Chronicle Volume 3 has retconned Med'an--he's just a "404" note in the index. As such, Garona's story follows the same major plot points as before but now reaches them in a different way.\r\rPreviously in the lore, Med'an faced off against Cho'gall at Ahn'Qiraj, defeating the ogre with the help of the Council of Tirisfal, newly-reformed Atiesh, Meryl, and Aegwynn. The ogre was buried in rubble and then suddenly resurfaced in Cataclysm, where he served as the final boss of Bastion of Twilight.\r\rHowever in Chronicle, Cho'gall has a more interesting story. He sets out on a quest to awaken the Old Gods, which is sidetracked at first by Garona's successful attempts to assassinate many of his followers. After luring and entrapping Garona, Cho'gall once again focuses on his mission, making his way to Ahn'Qiraj and breaking C'Thun's chains through a powerful ritual. C'Thun was now free to awaken the dormant silithid and prepare for war, events which led to the Opening of the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj and the 40-player raid.\r\rInstead of being buried in a pile of rubble, Cho'gall now sets out to Northrend during the events of Burning Crusade. He loosens the bonds of Yogg-Saron, providing the Old God with greatly-strengthened powers. He then escalates the conflict between the Alliance and Horde, commanding Garona to attack Varian at a peace summit. This is similar to existing lore, but without details on Med'an's recapture by the Twilight Hammer cult. With no Med'an in this story, Garona pledged to work with Jaina and Aegwynn to learn more about the Twilight Hammer, instead of only providing information if she'd receive help saving her son.\r\r\r\rN\u2019Zoth\rIt\u2019s been hinted before that N\u2019Zoth played a role in Cataclysm and now in Chronicle we get confirmation that he was involved in a major way.\r\rShrouded in an ocean of fevered dreams, among the bones of nameless horrors, N'Zoth remained untouched by the blade of mortals. The Old God was certain that Azeroth's champions would eventually seek it out and try to overwhelm it as they had done to C'Thun and Yogg-Sarion.\r\rN'Zoth was not afraid, but it did sense that a window of opportunity was fast closing.\r\rN\u2019Zoth is confirmed to corrupt Deathwing, pouring his own dark energy into Deathwing and sending the Twilight Hammer to fuse elementium armor onto Deathwing to prevent his body from tearing apart.\r\rN'Zoth fed its own dark energy into Deathwing's heart, infusing the black Dragon Aspect with a power unlike any that he had ever known. This influx of strength made his form more unstable, and the magma that flowed through his veins threatened to erupt from his body and consume his entirely.\r\rN\u2019Zoth then called upon the Elemental Lords. Neptulon and Therazane eventually defied him, but Al'Akir and Ragnaros followed N'Zoth.\r\rBy unleashing Deathwing from Deepholm, he would tear a rift between the Elemental Plane and Azeroth, which would then allow the Elemental Lords access to Azeroth. Deathwing would also serve as a conduit for N'Zoth, coordinating attacks with the elementals and Twilight Hammer.\r\rDeathwing's motivation was to scour the world of the other Dragonflights and control Azeroth as his own, but secretly N'Zoth planned to dispose of Deathwing once the Black Empire was restored.\r\rWhen Deathwing broke free and rained destruction on the world, Stormwind was a notable target. We learn the goal was not to destroy the city, but instead to instill fear in the citizens so more would join the Twilight Hammer. \r\rThe Shattering empowered many Twilight Hammer members who had lived double lives, including Archbishop Benedictus. The Old Gods played upon his curiosity with shadow magic and disillusionment that the Light didn't save Arthas from corruption, invading his dreams with visions of the Hour of Twilight and freedom. He grew to believe that the Holy Light was tyrannical and that the Void was the natural state of the universe. By staying in charge of the church, he was able to convert many disillusioned priests to the Twilight Hammer.\r\rWhile not all of N'Zoth's plans were successful, he was counting on most to fail--only one had to work in order to usher in the Hour of Twilight.\r\rAs times grew desperate, the Dragon Aspects retrieved the Dragon Soul and planned to empower it at Wyrmrest Temple, which players experienced in-game as the Alma Dragônica raid. Deathwing received word of this plan and amassed a formidable army, including Faceless Ones sent by N'Zoth. The Dragon Aspects were successful in driving Deathwing from the Temple, but N'Zoth countered by infusing Deathwing with a massive amount of power--so great that it broke Deathwing's body as molten tentacles poured forth.\r\rThe only way to defeat the empowered Deathwing was to turn the power of the Dragon Soul against him, requiring the Dragon Aspects to sacrifice their energy.\r\r\r\rQueen Azshara\rWith all the speculation surrounding Azshara as a boss in Battle for Azeroth and her involvement in the early story, it's interesting to learn that Queen Azshara is a servant of N'Zoth. Previously, we'd only received hints they were related via a Hearthstone blog during Whispers of the Old Gods.\r\rUnder his orders, she led the attack in Vashj'ir, unleashing her naga against the water elementals of Neptulon, to gain control of the world's seas. \r\rWe also get confirmation that the naga previously reached out to Illidan due to the will of the Old Gods, not because of shared loyalty or heritage with the Night Elves. The Old Gods wanted Illidan to succeed to destroy the Lich King and spark a new war on Azeroth.\r\rThe Old Gods had taken notice of Illidan. His hunger for power and his chaotic past intrigued them. His quest to destroy the Lich King could spark a new war on Azeroth, one that would likely envelop the undead, the world's nations, and the Legion. With that kind of turmoil consuming Azeroth, CHo'gall and his cultists could awaken the Old Gods relatively unopposed.\r\r\r\r\r\rWhat do you think of the new information about the Old Gods? Any surprises? Did you like the retcon to Cho'gall's story with Med'an out of the picture? It's been speculated for a while that N'Zoth was behind parts of Cataclysm so it's fun to learn more. \r\rLet us know what other types of lore from Chronicle you'd like us to cover!\r\r(Notes: there are Amazon affiliate links in this post, which provide a small kickback to Wowhead to help with site operations. Thank you to Blizzard for sending us an advance copy of this book.)

Comentários

Comentado por NightRisen

on 2018-03-27T13:45:21-05:00

Azshara was ALWAYS a servant of the Old Gods. Everyone pretty much knew that. She and her people were literally turned into serpent sea people by dark magic...who else but the old god under the tides? Yes Azshara is evil by nature and will do what she wants but her wicked mind lines up with N\u2019zoths. Can people stop crying about it? Those same people never understood epic lore characters like Azshara anyway if they\u2019re surprised by this not new information.

Comentado por FnordCola

on 2018-03-27T13:48:13-05:00

\r\rIn Maraudon you fight the daughter of Therazan who's has turned mad because of the loss of her husband with whom she created the centaurs. Her despair turned the centaurs against one another. And after cataclysm, we learn that the legion was using the centaur clans against each other. But wait Chronicle 3 now has information! Let's reckon the hell out of everything and Old gods are actually the bad guys that you knew they were!\r\r\rI mean it's not as if the connection between the Old Gods and the elemental lords is news, that's been established since at least the Warcraft 3 manual. And the pre-patch event for Cata made it clear that Theradras was still in cahoots with them and Deathwing. All in all the stuff with the centaur isn't even a retcon, more a spelling-out of things in the game and backstory that people who read between the lines already knew.

Comentado por Joshmaul

on 2018-03-27T14:05:11-05:00

Azshara is no shock. I pretty much pegged her transformation as an Old God thing the moment I read the last book of the War of the Ancients trilogy. The fact that N'Zoth has been up to this point a more-or-less silent actor makes it even more terrifying than the other three Old Gods; while invoked by name quite a bit during the Cataclysm, it has not really made its presence known "in person". Although C'Thun did not make its presence known really all that much outside of Ahn'Qiraj either, not like Yogg-Saron, whose influence covers at least half of Northrend (and lets you know it, too - Whisper Gulch in the Howling Fjord, Vordrassil in the Grizzly Hills, so on). And of course, Y'Shaarj, even in death, still the center of attention with the Sha and the whole mess with Siege of Orgrimmar.\r\rAs for Med'an, he always struck me as being like somebody's RP character when they expect all in sundry to bow before them - not quite unlike this fool who plays on my RP server who tried to roleplay their character as the Highlord of the Silver Hand and wielder of the Ashbringer and expected us to just accept it, because "it's my character and I demand that you respect how I play it". And honestly, while I found the ending for Cataclysm anti-climactic due to the major deus ex machina in the form of Thrall and the timey-wimey Dragon Soul, there is some small consolation that Thrall kinda got his comeuppance later on. His moment of PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWER! (though not quite an itty bitty living space) was brief, it's over, and as time went on, he became virtually irrelevant. I mean, does he ever re-appear after the whole business with the Doomhammer (him losing it if you didn't decide to go Enhancement as a shaman, and him saying "it's better for you than for me" if you did)? I don't remember seeing him after that.

Comentado por JaceDraccus

on 2018-03-27T14:07:10-05:00

I don't think I like Azshara being another Old God related baddie rather than just a horrible person. It's fine to have some villains that aren't related to some cosmic powers, y'know?\r\rYeah, but I'm pretty sure it was already established that when the Well of Eternity broke some outside power saved her and her people, turning them into naga. Looks like that would be N'Zoth.\r\rNot really a big surprise.

Comentado por Arraya

on 2018-03-27T14:20:11-05:00

Anything Old God related is always interesting. I'm so happy Med'an is retconned though, off with his head!

Comentado por Chaxton

on 2018-03-27T14:26:53-05:00

Instead of retcons, why not just avoid making bad stuff? Everything I've read about Medan was bad; he sounded like the worst kind of fanfiction that got forced in because of someone's fetish. As for N'Zoth, it's nice that he is a smart monster instead of a ridiculous one that just throws its weight around like a bumbling idiot (literally EVERY old god related boss, basically). Though it does tie up a bunch of loose ends, and gives us a humorous retelling of how it was all according to plan, it's still pretty dumb no matter how you look at it. It's just fanfiction given canon status; people speculated this kind of nonsense so long ago, and now it's real. Of course, this begs the most important question;\r\rWHY NOT PUT GAME LORE IN THE GAME IT IS MEANT FOR INSTEAD OF A CASH GRAB BOOK? The most infuriating part of this entire thing is that it's wasted in a worthless book, rather than in the very game that all of this should be taking place in. The only acceptable game books are instruction manuals and magazines like Game Informer and Nintendo Power. Drives me nuts that the books exist and are required reading if you want to know what is going on, and why the lore is suddenly pants on head stupid in the newest expansion. Huge plot holes are terrible, no exceptions.

Comentado por urielvazquez

on 2018-03-27T14:32:42-05:00

I don't get why everyone is so upset about everything being a brilliant long-term scheme by the Old Gods. \r\rI mean, people doing stuff because the Old Gods were pulling the strings does not necessarily mean they aren't acting on their own accord; I mean, the naga and Azshara could have been under the Old Gods' influence but still join Illidan and the Blood Elves because they felt some kind of bond to them.\r\rWe know the naga became naga because of N'zoth, that's never been a secret, it has always been said that the group of elves led by Azshara were twisted by the Old Gods, and the Old God related to the sea has always been N'zoth. Is it so hard to think that maybe the whispers of this Old God have driven the naga to do what they have done since they were introduced? \r\rOld Gods have been working in the shadows for a long time now, and have been a part of every single major event in Azeroth. It makes sense that every single thing that happened has been influenced in some way by them.\r\rAs of Med'an... I didn't hate his character per se, but he would not fit the current lore. It would not make sense that he made an appearance in the game now. I'm glad they finally removed.\r\rNow, if they would tell us why they didn't bring Wrathion back for Legion after all the build up they made about him in Cataclysm and Mists of Pandaria...

Comentado por dumenc

on 2018-03-27T14:36:00-05:00

personally I don't like these overly large god-like "big bad" story lines. Azshara was a pretty solid villian as is. Making her an old god servant...maybe it's just me, but it feels it cheapens the character. Also confuses me that It had her send naga to help illidan take out arthas? why? having the undead overwhelm the planet would have fit into whole "destroy all life" thing. Sure, being corpses does make the undead immune to the old god whispers but wasn't that their end goal anyways? I guess I don't understand the motivations of the old gods. It's like the fight between them and the burning legion. void lords wanted to destroy all life for entropic reasons and sent out the old gods to do so. sargeras freaked out and proceeded to stop the void by...ending all life to put the universe in a cold dead state? you'd think the void guys would just sit back and laugh "oh no, sargeras, please don't do that!"\r\rI don't know, I just feel like blizzard tends to drop the ball on these grand scale story lines. they do so well with the smaller scale ones. Even the expansions people didn't like as much (cata and wod seemingly being the two big ones), the smaller scale story lines in individual zones were so very fleshed out and well done in comparison. Personally, I liked the small zone-centric stories in wod very much. Legion's was well done as well (even if the constant deaths of characters upset a lot of people hehe). But once they bring the godlike entities into the picture, it comes with a lot of random plot holes. We don't have to have godlike entities to keep the story interesting. Supposed minor villians are just as good, potentially better since you can give them more story to work with that won't end with them being overpowered. Vancleef is a classic example. Almost took out stormwind and he was just a guy. Guldan is another. Incredibly powerful, but he had weaknesses that made the back and forth between him and the player character (at least, to me) feel interesting (honestly, I felt that he was handled the way Arthas should've been done during wotlk. Both had a major presence as you quested. Arthas would just monologue and walk away though, whereas guldan felt more involved. And I really liked that, he felt powerful but not overly so. A solid antagonist for the player). They weren't just "I'm a god so you die now unless you somehow don't".\r\rNot upset about medan being gone though. his concept wasn't bad, but the way he was created...well, he was one of those overly large characters that bring with him a ton of plot holes. Thrall became like that during cata after all, and he had to be retroactively fixed with a bandage "the elements won't listen to be after draenor's events" (which is sloppy storytelling, but it beats the alternative of keeping him godlike). Perhaps they can bring back a similar concept in the future, but not so "overpowered". That's not fun storytelling.\r\rSargeras want to "reset" the universe, to avoid the Void Lords corruption.\rThe Void Lords didn't want everithing destroyed, just corrupted, they want to corrupt a Titan, thats the whole point for the "Old Gods".

Comentado por Lautner

on 2018-03-27T14:56:14-05:00

I think people are confusing influence for servitude.\r\rSome worship the Old Gods.\r\rSome are just very lightly steered in the direction N'zoth needs them to be.\r\rThis isn't a case of "Everyone was mindcontrolled!"\r\rIt's more political than supernatural.

Comentado por Searinox

on 2018-03-27T15:07:25-05:00

Old gods are really just evil and their character is just that. They are cool as mysterious entities, but honestly that is slowly being taken away from them. They also seem to be the cause of every single tidbit now which is a bit over kill. A villain can be their own thing and doesn't need to be corrupted or influenced by the old gods to be evil. I find it is far more interesting for them to develop into that role themselves.

Every villain is just connected to the void now and old gods is what caused it. I don't think this is great story telling and I honestly find it a much worse version of the old lore. Of course this is just my opinion and feel free to disagree.

"Coll as musterious entities" dont work anymore, nothing stay hidden forrever. Its bound to happen now that we defeated the BL and they are the next in line as a treath. The holes in lore\/story have to be filled. They staying "mysterious" is not "cool" or good in anyway.

And remember.... Azeroth is the "last" titan and they want that really, reeeeeally bad. So its not farfetch'd that they have finger in almost every $%^& happening.

Comentado por Shirohane

on 2018-03-27T16:03:38-05:00

They should have kept Med'an. I still don't get the outrage over him. How is Thrall in Cataclysm any different than Med'an?\rHe's absolutely no different, and that's absolutely not an excuse. Thrall should be written out as well. He basically has been at this point, actually.

Comentado por Cyberium

on 2018-03-27T16:04:01-05:00

So how did Aegwynn die? In the comic she died to protect her grandchild.

I am extremely disturbed by Blizz's action against Med'an. Unpopular as he was, you can't just retcon or remove a character, part of history, simply because s\/he wasn't popular enough. They did that with Illidan prior to Legion, try to make him a more appealing person than in the original lore, it's annoying.

History is full of people and events we like and dislike, erasing your own creation base on popularity is disrespectful to it, almost like a FB user try to delete an unpopular post instead of OWNING the mistake. Just accept Med'an was a bad character, his story dull, and we could move on for the better.

Comentado por Gronker

on 2018-03-27T16:04:38-05:00

I think it's kinda weird that medan is completely out of the picture now.\r\rWasn't he a character introduced in the comics? Why is it weird he's out of the picture?

Comentado por Cyberium

on 2018-03-27T16:11:45-05:00

I think it's kinda weird that medan is completely out of the picture now.\r\rWasn't he a character introduced in the comics? Why is it weird he's out of the picture?\r\rBecause with Med'an out, there's not explanation on how Aegwynn died.

Comentado por angeleyed

on 2018-03-27T16:14:17-05:00

....Soon the hour of twilight will arrive and all will usher in our coming.... oups sorry how was your day? Need some help against the legion? Can you summon me please because my character is stuck in Nyalotha?

Comentado por wowrior

on 2018-03-27T16:46:24-05:00

Look, after dealing with the Legion and killing the stronger Old Gods, I cannot take N'zoth as a bigger threat. Only reason he is even a threat now is because the stupid faction war restarting ''By his design'' I bet.\r\rThat ''Just as planned'' crap from Old Gods getting really old.

Comentado por Putridpiranha

on 2018-03-27T17:17:42-05:00

It's lame that so many races\/characters are discovered to just be bad guys just cuz of old gods. Azshara isn't news but now everyone else and their grandmas have jumped on the big evil bandwagon.

Prefer it more if some of them are antagonists due to their own nature or story rather than just "they spilled old god juice on their shirts."

More and more it implies that Azeroth would be completely peaceful and no one would feel "bad" emotions and no conflict would ever arise if there weren't old gods, which is really boring in a game where conflict drives everything we do.

Also, retcons = worse storytelling than the bad storytelling that they wanted to retcon. Medan was pretty dumb, but deleting a character and the story around that character (which bleeds into other characters) is just frustrating and unsatisfying. To me, anyways.

Comentado por Valliecane

on 2018-03-27T18:19:18-05:00

Like a lot others have said, the whole "OLD GODS ARE BEHIND EVERYTHING" feels VERY forced.\rThat said, I would never have thought they would do something as beautiful as 404 Me'dan, so maybe there is hope.

Comentado por greenegg

on 2018-03-27T18:53:55-05:00

hah, illidan was an old god puppet.\r\ralthough, I am wondering, what war would illidan destroying the lich king cause? are they refering to that "the scourge would go crazy without a leader" thing? because at the time all this was happening, the horde and alliance were pretty peaceful, having just worked together to defeat the legion on kalimdor.

Comentado por Kananera

on 2018-03-27T20:58:06-05:00

I'm not against the fact that N'Zoth is behind... Almost everything in wow, when it is not some other Old God or Old god servants... But i would prefer it to me... I dunno... More subtle than just "He did this, and this, then this, and this..." \r\r Azshara, Arthas, Illidan, etc... They all have their own agenda. I don't feel like, by being used by an old god, have this taken away... They all do things according to their own desires without, for most of them, knowing that they are playing into the palm of a God's hand, inside a major scheme. \r N'Zoth is, after all, a god. He lived for thousand of years, knowing so much more than what a human - for exemple - would understand in a hundred years. For the same reason, when Chronicles say he is "responsible" for the quilboars and such, I don't think it retcons what was already said in game... Yes, they were created by the daughter of Therazane that went mad ( you know, madess, one of the old gods favorite tools ), and yes, they were then used by the Legion... But it can easily be seen as another work of N'zoth in the background, shapping things how he wants.\r\r N'Zoth is, after all, a God. I have no problem with him being all cosmic-wide-planning-like... But it is not what is told here which bugs me, but more how it is told. It is just poorly written, splashed into our faces... And this is kinda meh.\r \r Old gods tends to follow like an hommage - even if now it feels more like a simple "I copy this but change it a little" - to H.P. Lovecraft Mythos... It's too bad they didn't caught-up with his way to describe the inexpressible to do it.